NSF Award
2327460
This project will provide a fellowship to an Assistant professor, and a graduate student at the Marshall University Research Corporation (Marshall) to conduct research in collaboration with researchers at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Through the fellowship, the PI aims to identify the key phenomena behind the aerodynamics of aerosols jet printing that affect material deposition and thus the resolution of device fabrication. The U.S. semiconductor industry is a major economic driver, making up 10% of the nation's manufacturing sector and contributing over $250 billion a year in value to the U.S. economy. Semiconductor devices support a wide range of applications, such as fifth-generation (5G) communications, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, security, and local/remote sensing. Commercial markets, such as the Internet-of-Things, have significantly increased the need for semiconductor-based products. Also, the rapid adoption of new, more powerful technologies is driving demand for additional semiconductor production capacity in the U.S. Additionally, there is a burgeoning need for "high-resolution" device fabrication to fulfill today's performance characteristics, such as low power consumption, fast switching speeds, and increased computing power. Aerosol jet printing (AJP) has emerged as a high-resolution, direct-write manufacturing method for fabrication of a broad spectrum of electronics, such as sensors, optoelectronic devices, and fine-pitch electronics. However, despite recent advances in the AJP technology and formulation of novel functional mate-rials, "submicron" fabrication of electronic devices has encountered serious challenges due largely to the intrinsic limitations and complexity behind the underlying physics of AJP process. There is, therefore, a critical need to identify the link between the governing physical phenomena and the resolution of AJP toward submicron device fabrication beyond today's limits.<br/><br/>The longterm goal of this project is to contribute toward submicron direct-write fabrication of printed electronic devices. In pursuit of this goal, the overall objective of the project is to identify the key phenomena behind the aerodynamics of AJP that affect the resolution of material deposition and ultimately device fabrication. The proposed research plan is based on advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, followed by experimental characterization of the resolution of aerosol deposition carried out at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The computational models include not only the 3D geometry of various AJP deposition heads with different aerosol handling mechanisms, but also the processes of turbulent aerosol atomization, transport, and deposition. The contribution of this research project will be significant because it is expected: (i) to identify the key aerodynamic phenomena influencing feature size and therefore the resolution of material deposition in AJP, and (ii) to pave the way for submicron direct-write fabrication of semiconductor electronic devices (not feasible today). This project will significantly enhance the device fabrication capability of the U.S., will strengthen the U.S. semiconductor industry, and consequently will contribute to the enhancement of national prosperity, security, and U.S. leadership in manufacturing. In addition, NASA will be able to design, manufacture, and test novel AJP deposition heads on the basis of the established computational models as well as experimental observations of the AJP aerodynamics. Furthermore, this project will reduce the scientific barriers that limit direct-write additive manufacturing and will catalyze new manufacturing capabilities that have not been materialized today.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
